


Two Swords

by silveradept



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bisexual Disaster Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Developing Relationship, F/F, First Kiss, Hugs, Minor Chloé Bourgeois/Sabrina Raincomprix, Minor Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Past Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Pride, Supportive Parents (Who Are Not Tomoe Tsurugi), The A+ Parenting Of Tomoe Tsurugi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24513505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: Marinette and Kagami experience Kagami's first Pride together. It's a lot for Kagami, who has many different feelings and ideas to process as she experiences alternatives she didn't think she had.Marinette never actually manages to ask Kagami out. Kagami never actually asks Marinette out, either, come to think of it, but it all turns out fine in the end.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 82
Collections: Fandom 5K 2020





	Two Swords

**Author's Note:**

  * For [derflohwalzer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/derflohwalzer/gifts).



> With much help from my beta, [AlexSeanchai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai/), who made things better. (If I've still screwed it up, it's on me, not on them.)

"It doesn't have to be perfect!" Tikki said as Marinette fiddled with the button collection on her messenger bag.

"Yes it does, Tikki!" Marinette said back hotly. "If I don't look right, then it's not going to look right, and Kagami might retreat again."

Kagami Tsurugi had first made an impression on Marinette as the fencer in red at Adrien's practice. After managing to sort out the disaster that had turned her into Riposte, and more than a few profuse apologies to her and Adrien, Kagami and Marinette had exchanged addresses and she'd been slowly drawn into the chat room set up for the students at the Collège. Well, the room that Marinette used where she had her friends, where she had quietly permanently banned Lila from ever trying to get in and very publicly kicked Chloé when she was being particularly insensitive. Which had been less often, now that Marinette thought about it. Either Chloé was learning more about what was offensive to the group, or she was learning where the boundaries were for the room. Either way, it meant that Chloé was able to participate more in the room. Which was good, because sometimes the topic discussions were more about life than homework, and the last thing Marinette wanted was for someone to be insensitive when people were looking for support.

Kagami was still hesitant to say anything, even when asked directly about it. She had mentioned once that she didn't want to jeopardize her standing with her only group of friends, before apologizing for being too personal in the chat and disappearing. It had taken a lot of coaxing from Adrien to bring her back, to assure her that nobody had taken offense, and that they were fine if she just wanted to lurk.

Slowly, Kagami had started to open up about her mother's strict plan for her daughter, and her regimented home, school, and activity life. Not even Chloé had directly commented on the parallels between Kagami's home life and Adrien's, but there had been a lot of private messages about keeping an eye on both of them. Marinette had made sure crisis numbers for all sorts of things were always visible in the chat, just in case.

"Marinette," Tikki said firmly, "you do not have control over everything."

"But it'll be _my fault_ if Kagami doesn't want to go."

Tikki let out a small and dignified huff. "What's the worst thing that can happen?" she said, bracing herself for what Marinette's anxiety spiral could produce.

"Someone will say something rude to her, or she'll be spotted by one of her classmates and outed, or Hawkmoth will attack and she'll be hurt or her mother will come down and drag her away and none of us will get to see her again!"

"Okay, so what happens if someone is rude to Kagami?"

"Rose. Or Juleka, depending." Marinette said, recalling that Rose had promised to "thrash anyone who was rude to anyone in their group at Pride, Hawkmoth be damned." When Marinette had looked at Juleka to see whether Rose was serious, Juleka shrugged, nodded, and added that she would back her girlfriend up in any fight that she got into.

"What happens if Hawkmoth attacks Pride?"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir beat the akuma and possibly give a speech about acceptance and love."

"And if Kagami sees a classmate, or a classmate sees Kagami?"

Marinette threw up her hands. "I don't know. I'll ask. Same thing if her mother shows up." Marinette went back to the messenger bag's pins and buttons, trying to see if there was a better way of arranging them to be more visible while she was wearing the bag.

"What if she doesn't like me, Tikki?" Marinette said. "I mean, Chloé chose the worst possible way to say something about it, but she was right about Kagami being really cute."

In this particular case, "the worst" had been Chloé rolling her eyes and telling both Marinette and Kagami that they should stop making eyes at each other and start dating already after they'd gone to André's and gotten mirror images of each other's ice cream. Marinette had flustered, but finally retorted at Chloé that she didn't have any position to talk from, given that she still hadn't acknowledged her and Sabrina's mutual attraction.

Chloé had walked into class the next week with Sabrina on her arm and a look that would have been more subtle if it had it been a one hundred meter-high banner hung from the top of the Eiffel Tower saying "YOUR MOVE, DUPAIN-CHENG" in the boldest typeface Chloé could find. It had been _infuriating_. Not just because Chloé had managed to succeed so easily, but because Marinette knew that because Chloé had succeeded, she was going to try and do the same. _Ladybug_ would have been able to keep a cool and level head at such a display, but _Ladybug_ could also yeet Chloé into the next arrondissement if she ever had the need to do it.

Marinette, on the other hand, still had trouble putting two words together in the presence of someone else if she was trying to flirt with them, so it was miraculous when Kagami asked in the chat about Pride and said she was curious about what it meant.

"You'll be fine, Marinette," Tikki was telling her. "Even though you're not listening to me."

"But how do you tell one of your friends that you're interested in something more than friendship with them?" Marinette said.

"You managed with Adrien," Tikki pointed out. "And you're still friends."

"Only after I'd basically stalked him for years," Marinette replied. "I would like to do this like a _normal_ girl, Tikki. Take someone to Pride, see how they react, ask them out if they seem interested. It sounds so simple, but I'm sure there are forty ways I haven't thought of yet that I'll get in my own way or I'll screw things up for myself. Oh, Tikki, I'm a mess. Worse, I'm a disaster."

"Didn't you say that being a disaster was sometimes a good thing?" Tikki asked sincerely.

Marinette laughed. "Not this kind of disaster," she said.

Marinette's spiral was interrupted by a knock on her door. Alya popped her head up into Marinette's room a little after Tikki dived into Marinette's bag.

"Hey, girl!" Alya said. "Ready to get your Pride on?"

Alya had suggested that this Pride, each of them wear a color scheme related to their favorite of the Miraculous Heroes. Alya had chosen an orange overshirt over her usual white tank, pairing it with black denim for trousers. It was the perfect mix between declaring her love for Rena Rouge and being able to move quickly should Hawkmoth decide to interrupt the festival.

In the time it had taken Marinette to appreciate Alya's outfit, Alya had assessed what difficulties Marinette was suffering from and was already moving to fix them.

"We're going to be late if you're not ready," Alya said, scooping up the rainbow ribbons that Marinette had made for anyone who wanted to ornament their hair. "You're in your Ladybug red and black, right?" she continued, sparing a quick look to make sure that Marinette had followed the brief that had been set out for her group.

"It's actually for Oto-hime," Marinette mumbled, pulling her hair back and using a couple of elastics to keep her twin tails in place and settling her messenger bag into place. "Ladybug doesn't wear gold." Kagami hadn't worn as much gold as Ryūko as she did as Oto-hime, either.

Alya gave Marinette a second, more thorough look. "Oto-hime, huh? The Dragon Princess made that much of an impression on you?"

Marinette flushed slightly before recovering. " _Everyone_ is going to go as Ladybug," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if my parents both went as Ladybug."

"I'm pretty sure they're going as part of the Hug Brigade again," Alya said. "And we can talk about this on the way there. Come on, let's go."

Alya almost shoved Marinette out the door and into the company of her parents, heading for the nearest Métro station to take them to Pride. A couple of the people on the train had much more rainbow-themed attire.

Stepping off the train, Alya and the Hug Brigade immediately went over to meet the other half of their party. Nino, Adrien, and the rest of Nino and Alya's families were sharing a laugh between themselves. Marinette scanned the crowd to try and find Kagami, but she didn't appear to be in the group.

"Did Kagami come with you?" she asked Nino.

Nino shook his head. "She said she would meet us here."

"She hasn't said anything in the chat," Marinette said. "I hope she's okay."

"I wouldn't worry that much about her," Adrien said reassuringly. "She's not as practiced as I am at sneaking out, yet, but she's a quick study. And I think that's her, getting off the train right now."

Adrien waved to the person approaching their group. Kagami's face became clear as the crowd separated. Marinette smiled and hoped she wasn't blushing too much as she took in Kagami's look.

"Are those hakama?" Marinette said.

"No," Kagami said, smiling, "but they are inspired by them. And your pronunciation is much better, Marinette."

Marinette realized she'd asked the question out loud and knew she was turning scarlet. She flailed internally, hoping that someone would rescue her from the anxiety that was threatening to spin loose entirely.

"Black and green," Adrien said with an appraising look. "Chat Noir is your inspiration?"

"No, not him," Kagami said. "The Lady Noire. I had hoped that she might become a regular part of our heroes, but I've only seen her once."

"I would like to know more about her, too," Alya said. "There's not enough information on the Ladyblog about either her or her companion."

"Do you ever think about letting them live their lives in peace?" Marinette asked, grateful for the opportunity to shift the focus of the conversation. Alya was always looking for a scoop or more information about the heroes. Her fervor for learning their real identities had cooled somewhat after having been recruited into the fold of Miraculous Heroes, but Marinette was pretty sure Alya wouldn't pass up the opportunity to learn who else had been gifted with a Miraculous.

"Now that everyone's here, we should decide who our Pride Pals are," Tom said. "Sabine and I will be in the Hug Brigade, along with Otis and Marlena."

"I've got Nino," Alya said, smiling.

"Good, you can both help me with Ella and Etta," Nora replied. "Chris, I assume, will be sticking with us as well?" Nino nodded.

"Rose and Juleka just said they would meet us inside," Adrien said, waving his phone. "I think Mme. Couffaine wants to join the Hug Brigade this year, if I'm reading this right."

"Oh, that'll be lovely!" Sabine exclaimed. "We can always use more people to give hugs. Marinette, you'll be staying with your friends, right?"

"Right," Marinette nodded. "With Rose, Juleka, and Luka, we should be able to keep an eye on everyone and get things done."

"It's settled, then," Marlena said. "Everyone have fun."

"Marinette," Kagami said quietly as the party started toward the entrance to the Pride festival. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Marinette said, matching Kagami's pace so they fell a little bit behind the rest of the group.

"I'm…will you accompany me in there?" Kagami asked her. "This will be a…new experience for me, and I don't know what I should do."

"Of course I will," Marinette said. "You don't have to be nervous about this. All kinds of people go to Pride."

"All…kinds?"

"Mm-hmm!" Marinette nodded. "You can be het or cis or peri or all of those things, and still be okay at Pride, so long as you're being an ally and not a jerk."

"I understand," Kagami said. "That's not what I meant, though."

"Oh?"

"Will they…check?" Kagami asked. Marinette gave her a quizzical look. "Do you have to say what you identify as or who you're interested in to get in?"

"Oh! _No_ ," Marinette said, as the implications of the question ran through her brain. "No, they don't ask anything like that! There are people who will tell you those things if you ask, or they'll have them on—it's the buttons, isn't it?"

Kagami nodded.

"I'm so sorry!" Marinette fretted. "No, the buttons are there for people who _want_ to say who they are or who they're interested in, or both. There are all sorts of people who have buttons and pins available, if you want to decorate yourself or if you want to be more public about yourself."

Kagami let out a breath, suggesting to Marinette that this was much more reassuring to her than Marinette might have thought.

"My mother would not approve of this," Kagami said. "She would forbid me from coming if she knew I was here. Or if she knew of my interest in coming here."

Marinette nodded grimly. "We'll take care of you, Kagami," she said. "You deserve to have a safe space to be yourself."

"Will she know if I've been here?" Kagami said.

Marinette shook her head. "None of us will say anything if you don't want us to, and if someone outed you here, I think Rose would really enjoy the opportunity to tell them off."

Kagami tried to hide her smile and walked more quickly to catch back up to the group. After navigating the entryway and making sure the Hug Brigade was set up at their space, and a few hugs exchanged to make sure the shirts worked properly, the teenagers, children, and Nora all went on their way to explore. As they worked their way through the information booths, eventually Alya, Nino, Nora, Adrien, Luka, and the kids peeled off in waves, eventually leaving Kagami, Marinette, Juleka, and Rose as the remaining group.

"There are many more people here than I expected," Kagami murmured. "I looked up the numbers, but it's different seeing all the people rather than a number."

"It's so beautiful," Rose breathed. "All these people being proud about who they are and with their friends and partners." She leaned up to Juleka and kissed her.

"It's much easier to be yourself," Juleka said, smiling and reddening slightly from the kiss.

"Oooh, there's some face-painting," Rose said, spying something in the distance. "Come on, Juleka!"

"We'll be around," Marinette called to their rapidly retreating forms. "There were some interesting buttons and pins right at one of the booths near here, Kagami. Did you want to take a look at them?"

Kagami nodded, and the two walked over to the cases with pins and buttons on display.

"So many flags," Kagami said, looking at a display with what seemed to be the full General Assembly of flags available. She looked back and forth between Marinette's bag and the display. "Ah, there's yours, right?"

"Mm-hmm!" Marinette said. "Did you want a flag of your own? We can hold on to it for you when we leave."

Kagami was about to reply when Chloé's voice cut through the air. "Oh, _wow_ , Dupain-Cheng! I didn't think you'd actually be able to do it!"

Marinette was momentarily startled. She hadn't expected Chloé to actually be here, but she supposed that Chloé wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to gloat at Marinette for not having achieved her goal of getting Kagami.

Chloé and Sabrina approached them. Sabrina looked decidedly more happy than she had been in quite a while. Marinette sighed. Even if she was going to suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of Chloé Bourgeois, she'd at least managed to make Sabrina happy by getting Chloé to admit her feelings and act on them.

"I was all ready to make fun of you for being too shy to ask anyone out, and here you are, with a date at Pride. It's a shame for you, really, Dupain-Cheng. I spent so much time trying to come up with new material, and now you've gone and ruined it."

"Wait, Chloé, we're—" Marinette began.

"—doing quite well, thank you," Kagami interjected over Marinette, who fell into a shocked silence. "Marinette has been nothing but kind to me ever since we started dating." At that statement, Chloé's open shock mirrored what Marinette was trying very hard to conceal.

"How did she manage to get someone so far out of her league?" Chloé pressed.

"She asked, nothing more, nothing less," Kagami continued blandly. "Since she's a charming and beautiful woman, of course I was going to say yes."

Marinette kept her jaw from scraping the asphalt by sheer force of will. Chloé looked completely unimpressed, studying Kagami carefully, but only shrugged.

"If she makes you happy," Chloé said, then turned her attention to Marinette. "Don't screw it up by being a stalker, Dupain-Cheng. Come on, Bri."

Kagami stood still for a moment, following Chloé's form as it retreated, before she let out a long breath. The moment broken, Marinette let her own held breath out in a rush as Kagami seemed to fold back inward on herself, her presence decreasing until Marinette remembered she was in a pin stall at Pride and had been planning on getting Kagami a flag for herself before Chloé appeared.

Kagami turned around, spotted Marinette, and swiftly strode over to her, a determined look on her face. Marinette braced herself for what was about to happen, but Kagami stopped and then bowed at the waist.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," she said. "I've inconvenienced you terribly."

"Huh?" Marinette said, still trying to catch up to the change of events. "You don't have to apologize to me, Kagami."

Kagami straightened most of the way up, but was clearly still lowering herself in apology.

"I told her that you and I were in a relationship, which was not only presumptive of me, it was a lie, and now you'll have to straighten things out with her."

Marinette would have expected that kind of line to come from Chat Noir's mouth instead of Kagami's. Expressing slight irritation that she was thinking about linguistics instead of substance in this situation (which she _would_ blame Chat Noir for), she waved off Kagami's concern.

"You saved me from a lot of humiliation and teasing from Chloé, Kagami," Marinette said. "For that alone, I should be thanking you." She moved slowly, showing Kagami her hands first and then gently placing them on Kagami's shoulders and pushing her so that she was standing upright again. "You don't need to apologize to me."

"Are you sure?" Kagami said.

"I'm sure," Marinette said. "You've helped me with more than just Chloé." Marinette felt the jumble rising in her mind and fought to keep it under control. "Since this is your first Pride, I didn't want to make any assumptions, but it seemed like there was the possibility that you might…" Marinette cursed internally as the end to the sentence refused to get out of her brain and through her lips.

"That I might be going for something more than curiosity and allyship?" Kagami said, a smile playing at the edges of her lips.

"Yes, _that_ ," Marinette said, gesturing in frustration. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or try to push you into anything, because that's the kind of decision you have to make for yourself, and I know you can make it for yourself because you're strong and severe and kind of reserved and think a lot more than you talk, and I'm completely rambling now, so I'm going to stop." Marinette clamped her lips shut, hoping that would be enough to stem the tide of babble that would swamp Kagami if she let it continue unchecked.

Kagami's faint smile remained. "It sounds like you've been thinking a lot about me, Marinette."

Marinette turned scarlet and turned away from Kagami to intensely study the pins on display, trying to recover what little shreds of dignity she felt remained.

"I rather like these ones," Kagami said. " 'Sword lesbian' seems an appropraite designation, doesn't it?"

Marinette turned around to look at the pins, a rapier in one of Kagami's hands and a daishō set in the other. "Oh, those are both cute!" Marinette said, examining the lesbian flag–colored weapons. "Did you want to get them both?"

Kagami blinked, as if Marinette's suggestion was a completely novel concept for her.

"Both…" she murmured. "Is it possible to be both?" She looked up at Marinette. "How did your parents feel when you came out?"

"We should ask them, not me," Marinette said, plucking both pins from Kagami's hands and adding a rainbow-flag Ladybug symbol. "These three, please," she said to the stall manager, handing over a note to pay for them before Kagami could react or protest.

"Ready to see the Hug Brigade?" Marinette said, affixing the Ladybug pin to her bag in the spot that Kagami belatedly realized had been left deliberately open for a new pin and handing the other two back to Kagami.

Kagami nodded, still looking at both of the pins thoughtfully. Straightening, she followed Marinette through the crowd back to where the Brigade had set up their pavilion. Tom Dupain, Anarka Couffaine, and Nora Césaire were all out front. Tom was wearing a shirt that said "Free Dad Hugs"; Anarka's shirt said "Fight The Power, Give Hugs"; Nora's shirt said "Big Sis Gives The Best Hugs"; and all of them had people lined up to see them. Tom waved as Marinette and Kagami slipped by the crowds, where Sabine was replenishing a table full of sweets and literature.

"Marinette! I wasn't expecting you back until lunch," Sabine said. "Are you hungry?"

"Not yet, Maman, but Kagami had a really important question that I think you would be better at answering than I would."

Sabine tilted her head at her daughter, then nodded. "Let's find some chairs," she said, gesturing at a set of three that had already been set up so that the Hug Brigade could get off their feet when they needed to.

"I'll go help Papa so you can talk," Marinette said, once Kagami and Sabine were seated. Kagami grabbed Marinette's hand before she could leave.

"Please stay," Kagami said quietly. "If you leave, my confidence goes with you."

"O-okay," Marinette said, letting herself be guided to the third chair and taking a seat. Kagami squeezed her hand gently in thanks, before returning her own hand to her lap.

"Sensei," Kagami said, drawing a breath and looking at Marinette's mother.

"Sabine," she said purposefully in response.

"Mme. Dupain-Cheng," Kagami insisted, eyes requesting at least some degree of formality for the conversation. "How did you react when Marinette came out to you?"

Sabine smiled and looked past Kagami, catching Tom's attention and motioning him over. Tom pointed at Anarka with a questioning look on his face. Sabine nodded. Tom poked Anarka and pointed at Sabine, who waved at them both to come over.

"Tom, Anarka," Sabine said when they both arrived, "Kagami asked us what happened when our children came out to us."

Anarka moved first, sweeping Kagami up into a hug that picked her up out of the chair.

"You are my delightful child, and no matter who you are, or who you love, I will be there for you," Anarka said into Kagami's ear, then stepped back.

Tom Dupain-Cheng enfolded her in a surprisingly gentle hug for his big frame. "I am so proud of you," he said simply, and then let her go.

Sabine Dupain-Cheng, for all her small frame, radiated an energy Kagami had previously only felt from the Miraculous Heroes, before stepping forward and giving Kagami a powerful hug.

"I love you, Kagami," Sabine said. "No matter what anyone else says or thinks, I will always love you."

Tom and Anarka went back to the Brigade lines. Sabine sat down again in her chair. Kagami didn't move.

"I think we broke her," Sabine said after Kagami still hadn't moved after a minute. "Kagami? Are you okay?"

Kagami's mouth moved soundlessly, searching for some amount of articulation somewhere, before she collapsed back into the chair and started staring at the pins again.

"We're also dating, apparently, Maman," Marinette said, keeping an eye on Kagami.

"There's a story behind this, clearly," Sabine replied, smiling but also keeping an eye on Kagami.

"Chloé came by while we were looking at pins, ready to make fun of me for not asking Kagami out, and instead Kagami," Marinette made a gesture, "you know how snakes fan their hoods and cats get puffy when they're trying to frighten someone?"

Sabine nodded.

"Well, Kagami got all big and intimidating and told Chloé that we were already dating and how nice I was. But now it's kind of awkward, because I did want to ask her out, but not before she was ready and okay with dating women, and—"

"Marinette," Kagami said, finding her voice again. "Sensei." Kagami looked at both of them. "Can you be both?"

"Both what, dear?" Sabine asked gently.

"These," Kagami said, indicating the pins in her hands.

"You'll have to explain yourself more, I'm afraid," Sabine said.

Kagami waited a beat, composing her thoughts, before continuing. "You've probably deduced by now that my father is not present in my life," Kagami said. "Even though she wasn't the model of tradition herself, Mother wanted as traditional a daughter as she could raise, and so our family's daishō have been sitting by our ancestral shrine. I have to walk by them every day, and Mother would tell me regularly that she would give the daishō to my husband when we were married, he could take over the family, and I had a son, so I could restore the honor of the Tsurugi name my father lost."

Kagami drew in a shaky breath. Marinette blinked and realized she'd fallen under Kagami's spell again, feeling the wall she'd built between herself and her audience. Marinette shifted her chair so she could rest a hand on Kagami's arm. Kagami startled slightly at the touch, then took Marinette's hand and put it on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before continuing.

"I took up the rapier as a rebellion," Kagami said. "I thought that if I could learn the sword, I could carve my own destiny, instead of waiting for my approved match. But it's become another way for my mother to showcase me to potential suitors and prune away anyone she doesn't want around me."

Marinette was glad to be behind Kagami, where she could show her feelings freely, but she saw the twitch in Sabine's eyes, even as her mother maintained a friendly smile.

"Marinette, I don't think you've ever invited Kagami over for dinner," Sabine said. "You know that we really enjoy getting to know your friends."

"I couldn't possibly impose," Kagami said immediately.

" _Nonsense_ ," Sabine said, stressing it slightly. Marinette felt Kagami tense underneath her. "It wouldn't be an imposition at all. After all, I want to make sure that my daughter's friends aren't being bad influences," Sabine said, winking at Kagami.

"Maman, I think you scared her," Marinette chided. Based on the tension rippling through her hand, Marinette knew she was underselling it, but she didn't want to make Kagami any more nervous than she clearly was.

"This wouldn't be the first time that I've had to be a tiger mother," Sabine said mildly. "I recall there was some other friend Marinette had a large crush on whose guardians wanted to make sure their child wasn't simply wasting time at our house."

"Maman!" Marinette protested. "Adrien was never only a crush."

Sabine only smiled a knowing smile in response.

"Still isn't," Marinette added under her breath, in a tone that suggested to Kagami that Adrien wasn't a special case of love, but something else.

"Thank you, Mme. Dupain-Cheng," Kagami said. "I think I understand better. Marinette, I think we should discuss our situation some more."

"It might be good to find Rose and Juleka," Marinette said.

"Why?"

"They're more experienced at…all of this than I am," Marinette said, helping Kagami up. "And by more experienced, I mean they've actually figured out to talk to each other and have dates and do a relationship. All I've done is trip over everything, including myself."

As they walked back to where they had left Rose and Juleka to get their faces painted, Marinette proved she could, in fact, trip over herself. Flailing for balance, Marinette tried to at least twist herself so she landed on her back. Rather than the usual sudden impact with the concrete she was used to, Marinette felt herself slam into someone, then gently lowered to the ground, with a small exhalation from Kagami, who had been her unintentional breakfall.

"Thank you," Marinette said. "See what I mean? I can't even put one foot in front of the other around someone pretty."

"Perhaps you should take up fencing," Kagami said wryly. "It could improve your balance and footwork."

"I don't think fencing will help any more than all my years of gymnastics did," Marinette said, checking to see if anything had broken from the fall.

"Are you injured?" Kagami asked.

"Nothing more than my pride," Marinette replied. "I'm just glad Chloé wasn't here to laugh at me for it."

"Um," Kagami said, suddenly less assertive than she had been in catching and lowering Marinette. "I've heard that sometimes kissing helps make things better."

Marinette blushed. "I'd love to," she said, "but are you okay with that? You looked like you were having serious thoughts about everything."

Kagami leaned in. "You told me I could be both the rapier and the daishō, Marinette. And, unless I'm mistaken, you decided to dress as Oto-hime, didn't you? Perhaps I am making an unwarranted assumption, but it seems reasonable to deduce that dressing in the colors of a Japanese Miraculous wielder is a signal that you are interested in your Japanese friend.”

Marinette's blush deepend to scarlet. Unwilling to try and summon words, she swallowed and nodded.

"Then, if you want me to, I would like to return your interest," Kagami said, close enough to feel the heat from her cheeks.

Marinette turned her head to meet Kagami's, and, in a fit of courage, pressed their lips together.

Kissing someone romantically was very different than kissing them as friends or relatives, Marinette decided. Kagami's lips felt soft and had a hint of something nice with them. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, and when they broke apart, Kagami seemed to be thinking about something. Perhaps she hadn't been as into Marinette as Marinette had believed.

Kagami turned her head and Marinette saw her stifle a laugh. Her heart flopped. Kagami didn't like her after all. She'd ruined her chances by not being able to kiss well. Of course Kagami had wanted someone more sophisticated.

"We have an audience," Kagami said, her small smile returning.

Marinette followed Kagami's gaze and saw Rose, eyes shining in glee. And then noticed Juleka's hand clamped firmly over Rose's mouth, preventing her from squeeing so loudly she would have interrupted the moment Kagami and Marinette had just shared. And probably turned everyone else's head toward them as well.

Juleka noticed both Kagami and Marinette looking at them and shrugged sheepishly before letting go of Rose and coming to join them.

"Thank you," Marinette said as Kagami helped her back up to her feet.

"That was _so_ romantic," Rose said, vibrating energy at what she had seen. "Did Marinette ask you out?" she told Kagami. "She was so nervous about doing everything right for you."

"Ah, hah," Marinette temporized, putting her hands behind her back. "I didn't actually ask Kagami out yet."

In the silence that followed, Rose gave Marinette and Kagami very pointed looks, clearly expecting one of them to take the hint and actually formally ask the other out.

"There's still so much more to see at Pride," Marinette said, pointing in the distance. "I could use something nice after all of this excitement." Taking Kagami's hand, Marinette strode past Rose and Juleka purposefully. A little while into the walk, Kagami leaned her head into Marinette.

"Oto-hime's colors look good on you," she said. "I think she'd appreciate having you as a fan."

"Thanks," Marinette said, smiling. "I think you look nice in Lady Noire's colors, too."

"Will you be offended if we have to keep what we have a secret?" Kagami asked seriously.

"I would appreciate us being more out, really," Marinette said, "but I can wait until you're ready. It's not like I need more reasons to be dangerously klutzy."

Kagami squeezed Marinette's hand. "Thank you, Marinette. One day, I hope to have the courage that you do."

Marinette squeezed Kagami's hand in reply. "We'll be here for you, Kagami."

Suddenly, Rose and Juleka bolted past Marinette and Kagami.

"Ice cream!" Rose shouted as they flew past. "Last one there is buying!"

Kagami readied to spring after them, but Marinette pulled her back into an embrace.

"I'd rather walk there with you than run," Marinette told her. "Not least because you would have to save me from falling again if I ran."

Kagami considered this before nodding. "A couple of ice cream cones is worth time being close to you."

Marinette and Kagami strolled on, hand in hand. At least here, at Pride, everyone could be who they were.


End file.
